Halloween lands on a Saturday this year, but the costume calendar in Leesburg peaks a week early. Saturday, Oct. 24 has two costume contests and the last night of the downtown ghost tours. Downtown trick-or-treating follows on Sunday afternoon. The 70th Leesburg Kiwanis Halloween Parade rolls down King Street the next Wednesday, on a shorter route than usual. By Oct. 31, most of the family events are over and the main Halloween-night listings are concerts at the Tally Ho Theater.
For anyone with kids, a costume or both, that changes the planning. The weekend that needs the most coordination is Oct. 22 to 25, the parade needs a midweek plan of its own, and Halloween night can be as busy or as quiet as you want.
Saturday, Oct. 24 Stacks Three Events Across Town
Three Halloween events share this Saturday. Two of them have costume contests, and the third sends ghost tours through downtown after dark.
| Event | Where | Contest time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monster Mash | Village at Leesburg, Main Stage | 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. | No ticket price listed |
| Pumpkin Village costume contest and parade | Leesburg Animal Park | Noon | $24.95 per person, prime-weekend rate |
| Hauntings walking tour, final night | Loudoun Museum, 16 Loudoun St. SW | Evening tours, no contest | $35 |
The Village at Leesburg Monster Mash runs from 1 to 5 p.m. It includes professional pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating, cookie decorating and face painting. The costume contest has three categories: kids 14 and under, family or group costumes, and pets. Burn Boot Camp Leesburg is the 2026 sponsor and Ridgeside K9 is the event partner, which helps explain why pets get their own category.
Earlier the same day, Leesburg Animal Park holds its costume contest and parade at noon as part of the Pumpkin Village Fall Fest. Oct. 24 counts as a prime weekend date, so admission is $24.95 per person and free for children under 2. Weekend and holiday tickets have to be bought online. The fall season runs Sept. 19 through Nov. 8, and the park is closed Tuesdays except Nov. 3. The park's own pages list different hours for Oct. 24. The event listing says 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., while the general hours page lists Saturdays as 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., so check the hours before you go.
The two contests don't overlap. A family could do the noon parade at the animal park and still reach the Main Stage at Village at Leesburg by 3:30.
The Weekend Starts Thursday Night Downtown
The Loudoun Museum's Hauntings 2026 runs Oct. 22, 23 and 24, Thursday through Saturday. Museum staff and volunteers have led the evening walk through downtown since 1991. The museum calls it an 80-minute tour of notable buildings, cemeteries and their past occupants. Tours leave from the museum at 16 Loudoun St. SW. Stops include the courthouse, the Presbyterian Church, Shoes Cup and Cork, St. James Cemetery and the Johnston House. Tickets are $35, with time slots from 6 p.m. to as late as 9 p.m. The ticket page gives the length as 90 minutes, so plan for the longer time if you're booking dinner afterward.
With only three nights, the late slots on Friday and Saturday are the ones likely to sell out first.
On Friday afternoon, Oct. 23, NOVA Parks runs a Roving Naturalist session called Fall Leaves at Temple Hall Farm Regional Park, from 1 to 4 p.m. It's a leaf-science activity and craft, free with pumpkin patch admission. The farm, at 15855 Limestone School Road, is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Nov. 3, with last tickets sold at 4 p.m. Admission is $15 per person, $3 less on weekdays and free under age 2. Each paid admission includes a pumpkin and flowers. For a family that can get away on a Friday afternoon, that's the cheapest pumpkin of the week.
Sunday Moves to Downtown Storefronts
The Town of Leesburg calendar lists Downtown Trick or Treating for Sunday, Oct. 25, from 2 to 4 p.m., with downtown businesses taking part. The town hasn't posted a list of participating businesses or streets, so the easiest approach is to walk the historic core and look for open doors.
That same morning, Temple Hall Farm holds the second of three Paint a Pumpkin sessions, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The first is Oct. 11. Each costs $5 on top of farm admission, and no registration is needed. The farm session ends at 2 and trick-or-treating starts at 2, so painting in the morning and trick-or-treating downtown in the afternoon fits in one Sunday.
Wednesday's Parade Runs a Shorter Route
After the weekend, the biggest single event of the stretch falls on a school night. According to Loudoun Now, the 2026 Leesburg Kiwanis Halloween Parade steps off Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 6:30 p.m., rain or shine, on King Street between Battlefield Parkway and Catoctin Circle. This year the parade will end before Safeway because of construction on Fairfax Street.
The parade began in 1957, and the Kiwanis Club calls it one of the oldest parades of its kind in the eastern United States. The 2026 Grand Marshal is the Stone Bridge High School Key Club, named the 2025-26 Key Club of the Year in the Capital District. The club's 160 members logged nearly 4,000 volunteer hours for 128 organizations.
Here's how parade night runs:
- Before 5:45 p.m. Parade participants park or get dropped off at the Ida Lee field. Parking there is for participants only.
- 5:45 p.m. The Leesburg Police Department closes King Street to traffic. The time is subject to change.
- For spectators. Park in one of the town's garages or on a side street the parade isn't using.
- 6:30 p.m. The parade steps off, with floats, marching bands, costumes and candy.
The parade is still open to entries. Anyone can join with a float, an act, or just by walking the route in costume. Entries are judged for Most Creative, Best Interpretation of Halloween and Best Float, and the winners get signs to display for the rest of the parade. Registration is due by Oct. 14 through the Leesburg Kiwanis Club's parade page. There's no entry fee. Instead, the club asks for non-perishable food or checks made out to Loudoun Hunger Relief, dropped off at sign-in on the Ida Lee field. A group costume built for the Monster Mash on Oct. 24 can go back out four days later as a walking parade entry.
Halloween Night Moves Indoors at the Tally Ho
By the last weekend of October, the family calendar is mostly done, and the main listings shift to the Tally Ho Theater at 19 West Market St. On Friday, Oct. 30, Burn The Ballroom's Halloween Spectacular opens doors at 7 p.m., with Trackside and Scarlet Kiss also on the bill. The costume contest winner gets $100. TicketWeb lists general admission at $21.70 and VIP at $45.91, fees included.
On Saturday, Oct. 31, the Tally Ho hosts A Haunted Honky Tonky with Whiskey Glasses, also with doors at 7 p.m. The venue listing doesn't show a ticket price.
For families, Halloween morning still has one daytime option. Temple Hall Farm's last Paint a Pumpkin session runs Oct. 31 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., three days before the farm's season ends on Nov. 3.
Before You Head Out
A few details from the listings are still unsettled:
- The 5:45 p.m. King Street closure is listed as subject to change, and the Fairfax Street construction is the reason the route is shorter this year.
- Pumpkin Village's two pages give different Saturday hours. Weekend tickets there are sold online only.
- Hauntings is listed as 80 minutes on the museum's page and 90 minutes on the ticket page.
- No list of businesses has been published for Downtown Trick or Treating on Oct. 25.
If you're thinking about joining the 70th parade with a float or a group, you have until Oct. 14 to register. If parade night has you thinking about how close you'd like to live to King Street, Lindene Elise Patton is happy to talk through Leesburg's downtown streets with you. Let's Connect.
